lowman



(No Model.) a Sheets-Sheet 1. J. LOWMAN.

MACHINERY FOR PINISHING corms. No. 523,046. Patented July 17, 1894.

: Nomi PETERS co. F'no'rourucl. vyAsmNnToN, n. c.

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

J. LOWMAN. MACHINERY FOR FINISHING GORKS.

Patented July 17, 1894;

.Wiiiwases 3 Sheets- -Sheet 3.

(No Model.)

J. LOWMAN. MACHINERY FOR FINISHING GORKS.

Patented July, 17, 1894.

Wine-93w I NITELD STATES PATENT FFICEQ JOHN LOWMAN, OF LONDON,

i MACHINERY FOR FINISHING CORKSI SPECIFICATION forming part of LettersPatent No. 523,046, dated July 1'7, 1894.

Application filed October 20,1893. Serial No. 488,713- (No model.)Patented in Spain January 27, 1893, No. 14,050, and in Portugal February20, 1893, N0. 1,758-

.To an whom, it may concern.-

Be it knownthat I, JOHN LOWMAN, engineer,a subject of the Queen of GreatBritain, residing at 78 Ooburg Road, Old Kent Road, London, in thecounty of Surrey, England, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Machinery for Finishing Corks, (for which I havereceived Letters Patent in Spain, No. 14,050, dated January 27,1893, and1n Portugal, No. 1,758, dated February 20, 11 893,) of which thefollowing is a specifica- This invention relates to novel automaticmechanism by which corks are taken one at a tlme from a hopper, are thenheld against an abrading surface and rotated, and finally, when finishedall around are automatically released. Also, to mechanism forautomatically regulating the pressure of the corks against the abradingsurface and for stopping the machinewhen the abrading surface is wornout.

In my improved machine, the corks are one at a time pressed against arapidly revolving disk faced with an abrading material, such as glasspaper. While so held, the corks are turned slowly around and when theentire circumference of the cork has been acted upon, it is released.and another cork is supplied to take its place. As the abrading surfacebecomes worn, the corks are pressed more firmly against it, and when thesurface becomes unserviceable, the machine is stopped.

In the accompanying drawings,Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improvedmachine for polishing or finishing corks. front view. Fig. 3 is a planof the same, and

' Fig. 4 shows some of the parts on a larger Fig. 2 is a.

The shaft of the roller is turned in the direction indicated by thearrow by an end less cord H passing around a pulley on the shaft G. Thecorks being thus kept in motion pass'i'nto the throat of the inclinedguide trough H along which they then descend by gravity.

, In the drawings the corks are seen lying in the trough. At the lowerend of the trough H are two pushers I and 1 they receive from time totime by means hereinafter described a movement from and toward the diskF.

The pushers as they retire release the corks which slide down the guidetrough as far as a stop H admits. When the pushers advance the leadingcork ispushed sidewise off the trough by the pusher I and the next corkis held back in the trough by the pusher I.

K is a stationary support which receives the cork when it is deliveredfrom the trough H The cork rests upon the inclined surface K and is keptin place thereon by the guards The cork when on the support K is pressedagainst the surface of the disk F by the'roller L. The shaft of theroller L is carried by a frame L which is capable of rocking upon ashaft L The frame is held bya spring M against an adjustable stop N. Bythe regulation of this spring M the pressure exerted against the cork tohold it to the face of the disk F is graduated as is hereinafterdescribed. The cork rotates while it lies son with the rotation of theroller L.

The roller L is driven from the shaft G in the following manner:The cord0 connects a pulley on this shaft and a pulley on the against the disk F.andthe support K in univ axis L on which latter axis there is alsoanface of the disk F.

of the roller L. This axis has also a finger L upon it to actuate thepushers I and I and once in a revolution this finger comes againstanother finger Q. The finger Q is upon a short shaft carried by a fixedstandard, and the shaft has upon it another finger Q. The pushers I and1 can slide horizontally in the frame which carries them and to thefinger l the cross piece X is clamped by lock nuts screwed onto thepusher. The pusher I also passes through the cross piece X but a springbetween the lock nuts on the pusher I gives freedom so that the pusher Ican yield and allow the pusher I to advance independently. The crosspiece X has a stem I which projects rearwardly through the frame and hasa coiled spring upon it. When the finger L comes against the finger Q,an arm on the axis of the latter finger pressing upon the cross piece Xcauses it to advance compressing the spring on the stem 1 The crosspiece then carries both the pushers forward with it until the pusher 1coming against a cork at the lower end of the trough H is stopped; itholds the cork pressed against the side of the trough. The pusher Iadvances farther and it thrusts the cork abutting on the stop H off theshelf on which it till then was.

When the finger L has passed the finger Q the spring on the stem 1brings the pushers back and another cork delivered from thahopperdescends to the stop H The cork displaced by the advance of the pusher Ifalls on to the incline K and between the guards K K and it is held bythe roller L against the The disk by means of the abrading material onits face polishes the cork and as the cork partakes of the slow rotarymovement of the roller L every part of its face is successively operatedon and finally the cork is released when the recess L in the roller Lcoming round to the cork gives it room to fall away. The way in whichthe pushers almost simultaneously operate to bring forward another corkhas been already described.

The spring M by which the pressure upon the cork when in contact withthe disk is exerted is attached to a regulating screw R and as themachine continues at work and the abraiding material gets less and lesskeen this screw is progressively tightened. For this purpose the screwis provided with a nut R upon the periphery of which are teeth adaptedto receive the pitch chain S which also passes aroun another chainpulley T. T is a ratchet wheel fast on the shaft of the pulley T. Thearm T is free to turn on the same shaft and it carries a pawl engagedwith the teeth of the ratchet.

Once in each rotation of the shaft G the cam G acts upon a slide G3 andlifts the arm Tiaway from a stop T and the pawl then turns the ratchetwheel. Afterward when the arm T is released it falls back to the stop TIn this Way movement is imparted to the rotating this shaft.

nut R and thus the spring M is progressively tightened. So compensationis made for the wearing away of the abrading material from the face ofthe disk.

U is a belt fork, it is fixed to the sliding bar U and there is a springU connected with this bar which tends to move the barin a direction toshift the driving belt 0 onto the loose pulley and so to stop themachine. The bar U is however geared or connected with the shaft V andcannot move without V is an arm on the shaft V. It is shown in Fig. 3 inthe position it occupies when the machine is at rest. In starting themachine the arm V is pushed back and its return is prevented by puttingthe pivoted stop W in its path so that the end of the arm abuts upon theend of the stop. In the progressive tightening of the spring M asalready explained the end of the screw travels progressively outward; itcomes 1n contact with and acts against the pivoted stop W and finally itthrusts the stop round so far that the arm V escapes from its end. Whenthis takes place the machine stops the belt 0 being shifted to the loosepulley by the action of spring U and the attendant knows that it is timeto renew the abrasive surface upon the disk F or rather to change thedisk for another which is kept ready to hand.

\Vhat I claim is-- 1. In a machine for finishing or polishing corks, thecombination of a rapidly moving abrading surface and appliances forholding a cork in contact with the said surface and slowly rotating itwithout change of position in order that every part of the periphery ofthe cork may be successively operated on; such appliances for holdingand rotating the cork consisting of a stationary support (K) on whichthe cork lies and in which it is free to revolve, devices for preventingthe endwise movement of the cork, and a roller (L) pressed against thecork and pressing it against the abrading surface; the organizationbeing such that the abradiug surface and the roller are in contact withthe periphery of the cork on opposite sides and that the part of theabrading surface in contact with the cork moves downward or toward thesupport and the part of the roller in contact with the cork moves upwardor away from the support; thereby causing the cork while kept in oneposition by the support to present successively every part of itsperiphery to the abrading surface.

2. The combination of the revolving abrading surface, the stationarysupport for bolding the cork while in contactwith the abrading surface,and a slowly revolvingroller provided with a recess for the purposespecified.

3. The combination in a machine forpolishing or finishing corks of ahopper, a feed trough, a rapidly moving abrading surface, pushers forautomatically moving the corks from the feed trough into position to beacted upon by the abrading surface, mechanism for IIC actuating thepushers, a stationary support in which the cork lies, and in which it isfree to revolve, and devices for preventing the endwise movement of thecork while revolving.

4:. The combination of a feed trough, a rapidly revolvi'ng abradingsurface, pushers for moving the corks from the feed trough into positionto be acted upon by the abrading surface, means for supporting a corkwhile being polished or finished, and a roller which revolves in contactwith the cork.

5. The combination with a rapidly moving abrading surface, of means forfeeding corks thereto, devices for supporting the cork while being actedupon by the abradin g su rface,and a notched roller revolving in contactwith the cork, the arrangement being such that the cork is revolved sothat its entire surface is acted upon by the abrading surface, and thecork is delivered or discharged when the notch comes opposite theabrading surface.

6; The combination of the abrading surface, means for feeding corksthereto and for holding the cork in position to be acted upon by theabrading surface, the roller revolving in contact with the cork, a framein which the roller is mounted, and devices for acting upon the frame tocause it to move gradually toward the abrading surface to compensate forwear thereon substantially as described.

7. The combination of the rapidly moving abrading surface, means forsupplying corks thereto, a roller revolving in contact with the corkwhile being acted upon by the abrading surface, a frame in which saidrolleris mounted, driving mechanism for the abrading surface and theroller, devices for moving the frame of the roller gradually toward theabrading surface, and devices for stopping the machine when the abradingsurface is exhausted.

JOHN LoWMAN.

Witnesses:

THOMAS LAKE,

17 Gracechurch Street, London.

